The Challenges
by MichelleCarter96
Summary: Kelly's life changes in a flash, then she's literately fighting for her and her young cousins lives. Can they make it through the Challenges? And will that truly be the end? Can they survive together?
1. Chapter 1

I pulled the red stiletto onto my foot, brushed off the toe then looked at it and smiled. "Dana?"

"Yes?" A tall slender girl walked into my bedroom with a sleek black dress that dragged behind her elegantly, her long, straight dark blonde hair was straightened beyond perfection. Her legs carried her over to my bed where I was sitting and smiled. "I'm glad you went with the red, it'll look beautiful with your white dress."

I smiled over at her and shook my head, letting a few curls fall into my oval face. "I hope so, I was so rushed yesterday I didn't get a chance to go shoe shopping. So I have no choice." I sighed and stood up to look at my reflection in my floor length mirror. My hair was pinned loosely at the back of my head in a curly, messy bun with strands lining my face; my makeup was light and sparkly. But my favorite piece was the white beautiful ball gown I wore. It looked like a princess dress right out of a fairytale; my mother surprised me with it for my senior prom, that was tonight. Dana stepped up next to me and smiled. We were cousins, but we felt more like sisters to each other. She was 17 and I had just turned 18 the week before; she stands a whole head taller than me at 5'7 and me at 5'5. Her hair went to her butt while mine went to the middle of my back, mine was a lighter brown; Dana's eyes were crystal blue grey, mine were blue, green and gold. Yes, gold. People always freak out when they see my eyes, they tend to change colors with my mood; my dad says I'm a freak, but I think it's just a genetic anomaly.

"You ready?" She smiled again.

"Absolutely!"

"You girls look stunning!" My mother and aunt cried as they took hundreds of probably blurry photos.

"Thanks! We have to go though if we're gonna make it to Union Station on time."

"Okay be safe! Call us when you get there and when you're heading home!" We closed the doors of my blazer on my mom's words. I knew what she was saying, it was the same thing she always said when Dana and I went anywhere.

* * *

It was already dark at 8, we had gone to dinner at a local French restaurant, and Union Station was only a couple minutes drive. "So are we staying all night or skipping out early?" Dana winked.

"Well, I want to stay for a while at least, but we'll decide once we're in there." I pulled my car into a parking spot and we walked into the beautiful building.

"Woahhhh." She exclaimed at the sight of the intricate moldings.

"You look like a tourist, stop," I laughed. "You've lived in Kansas your whole life and never been here?"

"No!" She shouted walking into the ballroom to hand her ticket to a lady.

"Weirdo." I smirked at her as she stuck her tongue out. We walked into the dance and smiled at some friends before our creepy principal walked over and put his hand on our shoulders.

"Girls you look lovely! Save me a dance!" He gave our shoulders a squeeze then went back to checking people's tickets.

"Ewww!" We said together and practically ran into the dance. It had been about two hours when Dana and I decided we needed a breather, so we walked out to the benches that lined the walls in the ticket area. We were far enough away to freely talk about people, but close enough to feel the warmth of bodies and hear the loud music.

"Oh look at Tammy's dress! It's so pretty!" Dana pointed.

"Well when your parents crap money, I guess you can buy million dollar dresses." I grimaced but Dana burst out laughing.

"Hopefully Principal Kramer doesn't make good on his 'save me a dance' quip." Dana shuddered after changing her voice to sound like him.

I laughed hard this time. "Since when does Kramer sound like Sean Connery?!"

We giggled until Dana pointed again to Kramer and a group of ten to fifteen boys. "Uh oh, his stern voice."

* * *

"I'm sorry boys; if you don't have a ticket then you can't get in the dance. But you can buy some at that table over there." Kramer pointed over the man's shoulder to the table sitting in the corner. We sat too far away to see what they looked like but I could definitely tell that they were all attractive looking, especially how every girl walking by turned to gawk, even the ones hanging on their boyfriend's arms.

"I'm not going to be here that long." The young man brushed past Kramer and began walking before Kramer reached back and grabbed his arm.

"No sonny."

With one fluid movement, the young man turned over his shoulder, placed both hands on Principal Kramer's head and snapped his head off his shoulders with a jerk of his arms. "Let's go. Find all the women you think are worth it, kill the rest." They all stepped over the dead body and walked into the dance.

Dana and I stifled our screams and hid behind the bench until we heard screams coming from the dance area. "Oh my god!" Dana cried.

I grabbed her hand and ran to the entrance. "RUN!" She pulled her hand out of mine as we passed Kramer and she vomited onto the floor. I turned on my heel and almost slipped on the marbled floors, "Dana, let's g–" My breathing hitched in my throat as I looked down the long space to the dance entrance and locked eyes with the murderer. He cocked his head to the left and I saw a small smile spread across his lips, his face dark. "Dana . . ." I barely heard myself whisper above the music and the screams. ". . . Run!" I grabbed her hand and whipped us out the ballroom doors onto the pavement. We began running as fast as we could to my car when I saw someone step into our path. I screamed, stopping. Dana slipped and fell to her hands and knees. "Get up!" I cried as I tried to lift her with one arm while watching the man walk towards us.

She struggled to her feet then we turned to run but another man blocked our path. "Shit!" Dana screamed.

A sharp stick in my arm made me gasp. A man grabbed my shoulders and pulled my body back into his. "Dana, run." I muttered too late. Dana had a syringe sticking out of her arm and had fallen into the guy in front of us. I fought to stay awake, to be strong for her, but the darkness came. And I couldn't stop it.


	2. Chapter 2

My head hurt before I even opened my eyes. I'm dead. What's the last thing I remember? Prom. Dana. Principal Kramer's body lifeless on the marble floors. I gasped and opened my eyes to see more darkness. My arms were chained to a stone wall behind my head with my feet barely able to touch the ground. I noticed the numbness of my arms and shoulders and cried out in pain. With my eyes starting to adjust to the dark room, I looked to my left and right to see countless girls, chained to the wall, poles and lying on the floor. I gasped again and thought about Dana. "Dana?" My voice cracked with thirst.

"Shhhh." A cold whisper sliced through the darkness.

"Hello?" My voice a pathetic whisper. I looked around the room for the person responsible for it, but movement near the door caught my eye.

A dark form stalked toward me. I cringed away as a hand reached out to touch my cheek. "I told them to put you on the wall so your pretty dress wouldn't get ruined." His voice was emotionless and cold. I could tell he had a smirk on his face.

"Pl-lease–" Tears fell from my eyes.

"Shhhh." He leaned in and wiped my tears away with his thumb. I cringed away again. He chuckled quietly. "You'll be fun to watch."

I cleared my mind and remembered where I was and held my head high. "Get away from me." I croaked out.

He laughed, but it was cut short by a girls scream. "Shut up." He roared, walking up and slapping her across the face. Then he walked to the door and called some men in and left. The men were all dressed in black combat boots with black pants and shirts. Some had what looked like tranq guns and others had tasers; they wrenched us off the floor and pulled us down from the walls. I caught a glimpse of Dana and reached out to her before they could separate us.

"Are you okay?" I whispered panicky.

"I'm terrified. Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "Not even."

The men pushed us down a long hall and up stone stairs until we were all lining a concrete pad looking out to a very dense black forest. I held Dana's hand tight when a soldier spoke over our head. "They're all yours, sir. We all looked to see a crowd of people standing at a balcony looking down at us all, and the man who spoke to me earlier was walking down the stairs with his hands behind his back.

"Ladies. Hello. I bet you're all very confused and frightened." He paced the line of girls and stopped in front of a small blonde girl. "Good." He leaned into her face and smiled. "There are exactly 50 of you, and you are in our kingdom. Don't ask where, we have been hidden from your kind for many years. That also means there's no one to save you. You are alone, helpless and pathetic." He spat in another girls face causing her to shrink away in fear. This made him chuckle. "You are here for a tradition in our kingdom, called the Challenges. All 50 of you will embark on a journey of fighting for your lives. Where the weak die, but the strong survive." He was two girls away from me.

"Let us go, please." A girl whimpered causing him to stop and walk next to her.

"You. May go." A glimmer of hope sparked in her eyes and she smiled. He smiled back before snapping her neck. I covered my mouth to hold in the scream, but other girls did not. "Now, there are 49 of you. That improves your odds." He smirked at me. "At the end there will be only one." He was standing right in front of me now. He reached a hand out and stroked my cheek.

"Go fuck yourself." I muttered under my breath. He lifted his hand and brought it down on my cheek, the force made me whip my head around, causing hair to fall in my face. He lifted my chin with his two fingers and smiled harshly at me.

"I knew you'd be fun." He turned to look at all the girls then motioned to the forest behind us. "This is your first Challenge. There is a cabin on the other side of that mountain, it is sanctuary. Your goal: make it to the cabin." He shrugged.

"That's it?" A girl asked hopeful.

He smiled an 'I-just-lied' smile. "You're lying. What's the catch?"

He smiled brilliantly at me then approached me again. He leaned in and inhaled the scent of my neck. I shivered. He pulled away just enough to look me straight in the eye and smile his white wolf teeth at me. I stared into his eyes and saw them sift into a wolf. He growled low enough for only me to hear, and then whispered in a hoarse voice. "Run." I didn't need to be told twice; I grabbed Dana's hand and tore off towards the forest. I heard screams behind us as the other girls started to run too.

"Kelly, go faster!" Dana yelled at me before I kicked off my stupid high heels and ran faster with her right next to me. An animal growl made everything in the world stop for a split second, and in that split second I turned to see an older Asian lady fall, then an enormous monstrous Wolfman crush her and rip her throat out, cutting off her screams. Dana's jerk to my arm brought me back to life and hauled me to the edge of a small ledge. "Climb!" Dana pushed the girl in front of her then hopped up to grab it herself. I pushed on her butt then her feet until she swung up on it and reached down for me. We made it deeper into the forest and only stopped when we heard a scream cut through the air.

"Are you okay?" I asked dabbing a cut on her forehead with my already bloodied fingers.

"I can't stop shaking . . ." She sobbed. I held her in my arms and rocked slightly. We sat there for ten minutes before starting to run again.

"We don't know how far behind he is, or they are . . . I don't know!" I helped her up over a fallen tree.

"Why don't we go around the mountain instead of over it? Wouldn't that be faster?"

I looked at her and smiled, "This is why you're the smart one!" We started running to get around the mountain and soon after, night fell. Dana and I and a hand full of other girls decided it would be safer to hide and rest for a couple hours rather than wander aimlessly in the night. "Dana, girls? Get up." I crawled out of the dead tree we found and peeked my head around to check the coast. "It's clear, let's go!" I grabbed Dana's hand and we started running. A roaring growl came from behind us as a different monster ripped a girl apart. I screamed and pushed Dana behind a trees trunk. "Shhhh." Everything was quiet and I almost checked, then I heard the heavy animalistic breathing right behind the tree. I slowed my heart and calmed my breathing, hoping he'd turn away. Then a splintering sound came from the tree and it began falling towards us. "Run!" Dana and I fell to the side and the tree fell three feet away. I exhaled and looked up to see the Wolfman walking towards us. "Dana, I need you to run as fast as you can, okay?" I whispered.

"Fuck you. I'm not leaving." She glared as we scooted away from the Wolf.

"Do what I fucking say! I need you to survive! Plus, I'll be right behind you!" I had a plan, granted it wasn't a smart plan, but it was a plan.

She whined some more, but eventually conceded. "Please don't die." She lifted herself up and ran away as fast as she could. I rolled and ran toward it, while picking up a thick branch. It looked at me and growled, I could practically see the amusement in its eyes.

_JERK._

I slid, as well as I could in a dress, under the animal's legs and shoved the branch through its skin. It screamed out in pain and blood poured out over me, I coughed it out of my mouth and ran after Dana leaving the Wolf to limp after. I rounded a corner to see Dana and a bunch of girls struggling up a 45° angled hill. "Dana!" My bloodied dress made some girls step away and climb up somewhere else. "Hurry! It's coming!" I helped two girls get up before a girl standing above us screamed bloody murder.

"HE'S HERE!" She turned and ran leaving me and three other girls helpless.

Dana looked down at me, "Kelly! Jump!" Her arm extended down, I launched myself off a boulder and grabbed her hand.

"Pull!" I could hear the Wolf running at full speed. It's hot breath seemed to reach me from all the way down the hill. Dana and I helped the other three girls up then turned and ran. We weren't a hundred feet away until a scream came. I looked over my shoulder to see a girl being pulled down the hill we all just conquered. Her nails were digging into the ground and her face was streaked with tears.

"Is that Jacqueline?!" Dana asked in disbelief. The girl that I've hated for four years, who ruined my life? My arch nemesis? Why yes, it was.

"Damn it! Go!" I screamed a demand to Dana then sprinted down the hill to Jacqueline. Dana turned and ran up the hill to the cabin that was almost visible in the thick tree line. I ran to the girl being dragged down the hill and leapt to grab her hand before it disappeared from sight entirely.

"HELP ME!" She cried as I began to pull her back up the hill. The giant Wolfman had his disgusting claws around her leg and his strength greatly outmatched mine.

"Let. Her. Go!" I kicked the hand until it reached up and clawed through my calf. I screamed in pain, but somehow pulled Jacqueline and I both up over the hill.

"Thanks," She helped me up. "Let's get going!" She helped me limp as fast as I could to the forest line and onto the path to the cabin.

My foot connected with a tree root and I fell to my face. "Oomph." I looked up to see the cabins door open and all the girls screaming at us.

"HURRY! He's behind you!"

I took their word for it and pushed myself up to limp/run as fast as my leg would let me.

"Kelly, run!" Dana yelled with tears in her eyes.

Jacqueline got too scared with how slow I going so she let go of my arm and ran ahead to the safety of the cabin. My heart thumped with every shake of the earth under his strides and I thought for a second about just stopping, then I looked into Dana's eyes and saw how far away he was and her heart gave me as much motivation and courage I needed to sprint the last few strides. I felt his animal fingers miss my hair that was flying in the breeze, then the next thing I knew I was slamming into the wall inside the cabin and crashed to the floor.

"YES!" Dana knelt down beside me and cried. I put my hand in hers and looked up to see the man walking into the cabin with us girls.

"Congratulations. You have all survived the first Challenge."


	3. Chapter 3

**Vikki S, I really appreciate your comment, I was really unsure if I wanted to continue this story, but your comment fixed that dilemma! Thank you so much!**

**MsRaines12, that attractive blonde is definitely one of my favorites! Haha! Thank you for the very sweet, very funny comment! (Now, I need to go find a purple suit!)**

**Thank you BOTH for the wonderful comments!**

**And thank you to everyone who viewed my story as well, it means a lot guys! :)**

**NEW UPDATE SOON!**

* * *

We were all being lead back to the dungeon room when a tall girl broke out in a sprint across the forest floor. She was getting further away when the man just waved a hand to a soldier. "Take care of it." The soldier walked after her with an evil smile on his face while we continued the walk back to the place we were being held. We reached the top of a hill and looked out over the magnificent countryside that stretched for thousands of miles; setting at the base of the forest covered mountain was a dark grey, stone castle. I couldn't help my breath being taken away as I stopped and gawked at the castle that I could have only imagined to see in a dream. A whisper came to my ear and I shuddered. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I looked at his face in the corner of my eye and finally took a good look at him. He stood a foot taller than me and his hair was above his ears and black as night, crazy and disheveled too. His eyes were a dark, lovely blue and his skin had a deep tan; if he wasn't a murdering psychopath I'd definitely think he was attractive. Maybe even my type of guy. But nope . . . still psycho. "Start walking, Kelly."

"How do you know my name?" I turned around to face him and was met with a smile.

"I know everything about you, Kelly," He stepped into me; I resisted the urge to slap him and step back. "Your name, your family, where you live, how old you are, your height, weight, and everything else in between." He could tell I was uncomfortable so he placed a hand on my waist and slid it up to my hair, roughly grabbing a fistful he pulled my head to the side to smell my neck. "It's a policy that we can't have a taste of the girls until they complete the Challenges," He trailed his tongue along my throat and a whimper escaped my lips. "You're lucky I listen to the rules." He pushed me away and growled at me to walk.

* * *

The attractive man walked into the dungeon and looked at all of us cuddled in the corners, crying. "Change into these," He dropped a bag of black shorts and a bag of purple tank tops, "Quickly!"

Dana picked up two shirts and shorts and handed one set to me, "We need to get out of here, Kel."

"I'm working on it. You saw what they did to that girl that ran or worse yet, didn't see what they did." I shivered.

"That guy really is an asshole; I can't believe this is legal!" Dana slid her dress off and pulled the tank top over her bra and shorts over her Snoopy panties. Dana and I looked across the room to a young blonde guard with a tall build, smiling at Dana. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" She grumbled not too loud, but he still gave her another little laugh.

"I refuse." I held the tank top and shorts in my fist and threw them on the floor. "Who the hell is he to tell us what to do."

"Man, I wish you had decided your rebellion before I changed into mine . . ." Dana sighed wistfully.

"Problem?" His voice cut through the noise of the girls still crying.

"Uh oh." Dana looked over my shoulder.

I turned and crossed my arms. "I refuse to be a doll you may dress and undress to your liking."

"Excuse me?" He narrowed his eyes and stalked toward me.

"Let me put it simpler. Fuck. You." I stood my ground as he loomed above me.

He looked into my eyes and I saw the anger cloud his blue gems. "You must be mistaken. You assume you have the right, the ability, to refuse? You, my dear, as are the rest of these girls, are no longer independent individuals; you are no longer even individuals to our standards. You are weak, you are juvenile, and you are whores for our pleasure; you are slaves to my people from here on out. You hold no standing of respect in our kingdom, so how dare you even SPEAK to my face. You are mere entertainment, a game for us to pass the time. You refuse? Bitch, you are nothing." He grabbed my throat and squeezed until I almost passed out. "Now get dressed." He hissed into my ear. I gasped and clutched my throat. My heart hurt and my head pounded. "If you're not dressed by the time I get back I will slit your throat." And with that he and his guards left.

Jacqueline came up to me and Dana and frowned. "Way to fucking go, why do you think you're so tough?"

"Shut the hell up, Jackie." Dana warned.

"Jacqueline, I saved your ass!" I glared at her when she brought her hands to my shoulders and gave me a slight push.

"Get the hell out of my face! I didn't need your help."

"You –" I tightened my hands around her neck as a couple girls pulled us back. We were just about to go at it again when the asshole walked in with his entourage.

He threw Jacqueline against the wall then gave me a hard slap and grabbed my throat again. "Are we not killing you fast enough?!" His eyes turned black and his voice became a growl.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Jacqueline sobbed over and over again.

"Silence!" He yelled to her then looked to me expectantly. When he saw the stubborn look in my eye he tightened his grip.

"I don't have to apologize to you." I managed to choke out.

"You do if I say so." He squeezed harder. I spat in his face. His face was a look of shock immediately followed by rage. "You'll go first." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me from the room up dozens of flights of stairs to a flat section of the castles roof. His hand was warm against my cold flesh as he hauled me to the side of the castle which dropped off into the lake beside it.

"What're you doing?" My heart fell when he leaned me over the edge.

"Giving you a look at your next Challenge." He grinned maliciously. I tried to take a step back, but his hand held me still. "What's the matter, Kelly, afraid of heights?"

"No." I looked at my bare, bleeding feet.

I heard him chuckle then lift my chin up to face him. "You're afraid of water, aren't you?" My blank stare was the only answer he needed. The rest of the girls were brought up so he turned to face them, temporarily forgetting me. "This is your next Challenge. There are 39 of you left, let's hope you have more luck with this one than the last; in this Challenge you will be relying solely on yourself. Individually, you will jump in and begin searching for a chest hidden at the bottom. Once you've retrieved a key from the chest, return to the surface." He did that shrug again.

Dana scoffed, "The catch?"

He grabbed a black strap out of a crate with a small octagon apparatus in the middle. "This is what the key unlocks; it's a breathing applicator to assist in your time under water." He walked up to me and fastened the apparatus right above my breasts and around under my arms. "This will hurt for a moment." He whispered in my ear, and then pressed a button on the device. It chirped twice before a shot of something went into my chest.

I gasped in pain, and clutched my chest. "What'd it do?"

"Oh, you see. This device has three retractable syringes inside filled with a deadly poison, those of which are now inserted mere inches from your heart."

My mouth dropped. "What?!"

"I guess you better find that key." He flashed his beautiful teeth at me.

"I . . . can't swim."

"Oh, posh, you were a top two record holder on your school swim team for 3 ½ years." He winked at my confusion then led me to the edge.

"Wait!" I turned and met Dana's tear filled eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." Her voice quivered slightly. "Don't you die on me." I gave her a shaky smile before turning back to the water. It was black and dangerous . . . breathe . . . I took a step forward to prep my dive then ran to the edge to execute a perfect swam dive that, back in the day, would've earned me a perfect score. It was cold, cold enough to take my breath away and the device tingled, eventually my eyesight improved and I could see clearly. Wait – scratch that . . . I must be delusional – two hundred feet away, coming from behind a wall of coral, was a mermaid.

No joke.

I watched as she swam closer and extended a hand to cradle my cheek. Her long brown hair flowed around us, sunlight glistened off her giant red tail, with the scales shining like diamonds; her tail slightly scraped my already hurt calf. She brought her full lips to mine in a weird fishy kiss, immediately after she pulled away I felt discomfort in my neck. I let out a gasp before I could stop myself, I clapped my hand over my mouth before I drowned. But, I wasn't. I was fine. What the hell? I brought my fingers to my neck and discovered four gills on either side of my neck and webbing grew in between my fingers and toes. She smiled sweetly at me before the blood from my scrap reached her nose; her beautiful bright pink eyes turned black and her jaw enlarged to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth. She let out a deafening screech that caused me to cover my ears and lift my foot to her stomach, then give her a swift kick. I ducked down and weaved my way through the stocks of coral and grass, trying to lose the horrifying creature. I made it around a coral before stopping to check behind me, red flashed in front of me and a tail connected with my side, shooting me through the water and into a sharp collection of coral, cutting into my side and back. Her eyes rolled back into her skull as more blood reached her, she hurled herself at me, but I moved myself out of the way, leaving her to impale herself on the coral. As a little girl I had always dreamed of meeting my favorite Disney character and that just so happened to be Ariel. But that bitch was no Ariel! I swam down to the bottom of the lake to begin my search; I wasn't going to fool myself into thinking that she was the only mermaid in these waters so I figured I should hurry. It was just as I spotted the chest, which would end this nightmare, a green fin slapped me so hard under the belly that I shot up through the water to land on a boulder peeking out of the lake. I landed hard on my back and cried as all the air left my lungs. I couldn't breathe; this thing on my chest was causing immense pain. I gasped, trying to take it off.

Up top, Dana began to panic, "What's happening?!"

"Oh did I not mention? You only have 15 minutes to complete this Challenge before the poison is injected into your heart."

Dana gaped at him, and then looked down to see me still struggling for air. "Kelly, you have 6 minutes!" She bellowed as loud as she could before getting cut off by a slap.

My head snapped up to the sound of Dana's voice. What did she say? I heard my name and something about '6 minutes'. I was being timed? Oh God . . . this thing on my chest. Pulling myself up and into the water, I began to descend down to the chest for that damned key. Once I reached the chest, I lifted the lid and pulled out a silver key with a family crest engraved on the handle. Simple enough. That's when a row of teeth cut into my left shoulder. I screamed out in pain and clubbed it in the head with a nearby rock. It let go and swam away, hopefully leaving me alone for good. Damn it! My shoulder was losing blood, and the device was vibrating out of control, my breathing was ragged, I could feel my heart about to beat right out of my chest! I braced my feet on the lake floor and pushed off with as much strength my legs had in them. I made it to the surface, but slammed into the rock I had fallen on earlier. I climbed out and lifted a shaky hand to jam the key inside the apparatus. I cranked the key, but nothing happened. It wouldn't click.

"No, no, no!" I turned it twelve more times before I heard the most amazing sound in all my life –

_Click! _I felt the syringes pull out of my skin, then ripped it off and chucked it into the water.

Dana squealed and clapped, "Yay!"

"Silence!" He glared down at Dana then turned to two guards, "Go get her." No one spoke while the guards brought me up to the platform. "Well, Miss Carter, you made it . . . barely, I see." He smiled at my shoulder before I collapsed.

* * *

I opened my eyes to a hideous amount of pain. "Good morning."

I shot up to lock eyes with Mr. Handsome.

"Where am I?" Everything was white and clear.

"A medical examination room."

"Why?" I couldn't figure out what had happened.

"You were badly injured." He stepped next to the table and touched my shoulder.

"OW!" I jerked away, causing more pain to rip through me. "Why do you care? Doesn't this make your 'game' more interesting?" I coughed.

"It's not a game, Kelly, it's a tradition." His voice seeped with pride.

"Yeah, well I don't want to be apart of your tradition." I spat as tears threatened to fall.

"You speak as if you have a choice." He glared down at my face.

"I want to go home." I closed my eyes and a tear rolled down my cheek.

He brushed it away with his thumb and gripped my thigh. "I thought you said you were strong . . . slave." He added with an evil smile.

"Fuck you."

He dug his fingers into my shoulder as I screamed out in pain.

"Say it again." He dared through clenched teeth.

I shook my head with more tears falling down my cheeks, "Please stop!" I screamed again.

"Sorry? What'd you say?" He dug deeper until he could feel my bone.

"Please stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I sobbed, looking up at him through wet eyes.

"'Sorry' what?!" He hollered in my face.

"Sir! I'm sorry – sir!"

He pulled his fingers out and I quivered in pain. Pulling out a knife, he cut into his palm, "Open your mouth."

My eyes grew wide, "No . . . no, no, no!" I jerked my head and body away from him, but he caught my face and shoved his cut against my lips. His thick, sickly sweet blood flowed through my throat, burning my insides as it went down.

He pulled away, leaving me to cough out blood. "Come, it's time for the next Challenge." He pulled me up to sit on the edge of the table.

"What?" My legs dangled in between his as he stood in front of me, cleaning my face and lips.

"You've been out for quite awhile."

"What about Dana?" My heart panicked as he wrapped my shoulder in a clean bandage.

"She retrieved the key the fastest . . . unlike you." When his eyes met mine they held slight amusement.

"Well, I wasn't aware that I was being timed or that there were killer mermaids out there with a hankering for awkward kisses."

His hands stopped moving and his eyes found mine. "She kissed you?"

"You gonna get a boner?" I expected a slap, but he either ignored it or didn't hear me.

"You're lying." His eyes turned black and angry as he grabbed my wrists.

"No, I'm not I swear! Why would I lie about that?"

He slapped me. "You're lying to me!" He growled as I sobbed.

"I'm not! She had brown hair and pink eyes, then after –" I snapped my mouth shut and looked down.

"'Then after' what?" His breathing slowed and his voice icy.

"She turned crazy and –" He slapped me.

"Liar!"

I felt tears, or blood, trickle down my cheek. "I'm sorry . . ."

"Do you want to know how I know you're lying, Kelly?" He lifted my chin until I looked into his eyes, "Mermaid kisses are deadly, and their saliva is acidic." He brought his lips to my ear. "You're a liar, Kelly. And I am very disappointed in you." His teeth nipped my ear and a whimper escaped my lips. He pulled me from the table and led me from the room. "Ladies!" He held me beside him as he spoke. "Very nice, 36 of you are left. This Challenge will test your speed and ability to chose between your life and another. We have 35 hunting dogs; one of them has your specific scent. Your Challenge is to survive, kill the dog, and retrieve your flag from the dog." He held up the flag. "You will also have one; if you come back with someone else's flag then you will be killed." He looked down to me, "You'll be sitting this one out."

"What?" I looked up at him.

"What!?" Jacqueline squeaked, pushing her way through a couple girls.

"Are you questioning me?!" He growled low and dangerous, causing her to shrink back.

"No, sir!"

"I may be a monster to you, but I am a fair man." He spoke over our heads, "Release the dogs." I eyed him suspiciously then turned to Dana, her eyes were scared, but I knew her mind was determined. It would be hard for her to kill an innocent animal, but she'd pull through . . . she's strong. Stronger than me. I nodded at her and she nodded back, and then took off into the woods ahead of the other girls.

* * *

The girls got back, only four short, and then we were lead back into the cell.

"Are you okay?" I grasped Dana's hand and hugged her close.

"As good as I can be. I guess it hasn't hit us yet, or we're just taking this in stride."

"What hasn't?" We sat against a back wall.

"That we were kidnapped by Werewolves, and now our lives are a joke for them to watch as we lose." She shook her head.

"I know. . . " I squeezed her hand, "We'll get through this, together." I assured her then looked at the other girls who were listening. "All of us."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you again Vikki S, that means so stinkin' much to me! :) I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy the 4th chapter!**

* * *

I woke Dana up earlier than the other girls a couple days later, "What's wrong?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned big.

"I have something to show you." I rolled to my side so no one else could see the silver scalpel I hid in my shorts.

"Kelly! Where'd you get that?" Her face showed a mix of fear and excitement.

"I got it from the medical room after my mermaid attack!" I pulled my shorts back down to conceal it.

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" She sighed then smiled, "What's the plan?"

* * *

It took 6 days for the asshole to come visit us again with only one other blonde guard. "Good morning ladies. How's everyone feeling?" He had the blonde come in first then preceded to check all the girls' faces. "This one." Mr. Asshole bent down and lifted another girls' face to look at him. I caught Dana's eye and she nodded, looking to the blonde guard, knowing he was her job. I crouched for a second before throwing myself onto his back and driving the scalpel into his right shoulder. He howled in pain, standing straight up in an attempt to buck me off. The guard came toward me, but Dana clipped a loose chain around his feet. He screamed again before throwing me off into the wall; he reached around to try and remove the scalpel, but the reach was too much for his muscles. I turned to the joint that held my chains in the wall and pulled at the weak metal, a few days leading up to this I had been pulling on them to loosen the hook from the wall, so it broke quickly. The girls yelled at me to run at the same time Mr. Asshole was yelling at his guard to get me. "Ben! Go after her!" But he looked over to see Ben chained to the wall, he growled and stumbled out of the door. I ran through stone halls and through a giant wooden door frame that lead me into a beautiful throne room. I stopped and lost myself in its beauty, it had stone ceilings and archways, and gorgeous stained glass depicting kings and queens and wolves. The room was enormous in size, and I could only imagine what kind of parties took place on this very floor. It tickled my inner Gatsby nerd and I continued to stare in awe. A growl ripped through the hall and seeped into the throne room, I turned to see a very pissed off Asshole. I ran to a plain black door and flew through a large kitchen with 6 or 7 servant ladies cooking.

"Help me!" I screamed, but didn't stop running. I found myself stuck in front of a marble staircase that lead to an upstairs corridor. That's not where I wanna go . . .

I was turning around to run in another direction when a chuckle froze me to the ground. "I didn't think you were this stupid." Mr. Asshole and three guards looked at me angrily.

"You don't know a damn thing about me!" I gritted my teeth at him as he took steps toward me. I tried to run to my left, but his arm reached out and caught me around the waist.

"You realize you will be punished for this!"

"I'm not scared of you!" I spat in his face as he grabbed a fistful of my hair.

"You should be, bitch!" He dragged me down to what I thought was the cell that held the other girls; the room he took me to sent shivers down my spine. The floor and walls were splattered with brown stains, chains were fastened to the walls and hung from the ceiling, a wooden table was pushed near the east wall next to a metal cabinet, and on the other side of the room was a fireplace and a pail of water.

My eyes locked onto the cabinet as he gave my head a push, "Where am I?!" I moved the hair from my face to give him a proper glare. He thought about it for a minute, deciding if he wanted to answer, but he settled on giving me a sexy smirk. "Let me out!" I took note of his frame blocking the door, my only escape.

"I thought you weren't afraid?" He mocked me while taking a step forward. I bit my bottom lip and glared. He kicked his leg back to slam the large wooden door shut, engulfing the room in complete darkness. My breathing hitched in my throat as I swallowed a whimper. The darkness filled my soul and weighed down on me, my eyes struggled to adjust to the dark, while his werewolf eyes were probably fine. Where is he? After a moment, I felt hot breath touch the back of my exposed left shoulder; I dashed forward to the door, but his arm wrapped around my neck and yanked me away. I choked; the fear began to bubble in my belly. His mouth pressed against my ear as a husky chuckle escaped his mouth. "Are you scared yet?" His arm stopped any words from leaving my mouth, but not my strangled sob. He took a deep breath from the side of my neck, "Mmmm." He bumped us into the table's edge. "Kelly, you are going to regret this." He clicked an overhead light on. He released my neck and threw me into the table. I scrambled to get off, but he grabbed a fistful of my hair. "Uh uh." I hollered out as he tied my hands to a hook above the table. "So – a scalpel huh? That was pretty smart, not gonna lie." I sat in front of him with my arms above me, totally vulnerable, and I hated it. He smiled while walking over to the cabinet, it opened with a squeak. "Now, how to teach you a lesson?"

It sounded like a rhetorical question, but I decided to open my mouth anyway. "A light rap on the wrist and off to bed with no dinner?"

He gave another deep chuckle then grabbed a metal rod and a towel. "Kelly, do you realize you girls have been here almost three weeks already? And you still haven't learned a thing."

"Maybe you're a horrible teacher?" I offered as he stalked over to me.

"Or maybe you haven't gotten it yet?"

"And what's that?" I held my head high for an attempt at humility.

He took my chin in his grip and squeezed. "I am your master. I. Own. You." He leaned in and growled the last word in my face.

"I am not a piece of property! I am never going to be your property!" I said through clenched teeth.

A chuckle slipped through his light pink lips as he made his way over to the fireplace. He turned the knob and the fire roared to life, "Tell me that again?"

"I am not your property!" I screamed, because the fear was getting to be too much. His calm demeanor terrified me more than anything.

The moment he turned his back to focus on something in front of him was when I began trying to pulling against the rope, but it only tightened.

When he turned around my eyes widened. "Wha –" The words caught in my throat. My heart began to beat rapidly as he drew closer.

"You're going to want to hold still." The metal rod he held blazed a bright orange; the heat reached my face.

"No."I twitched, knowing his intentions. "No, no, no!" He smirked, walking around the table to the other side.

I had no way out, this was inevitable. I clenched my eyes shut, bit down on my lip and waited for the pain. It took a second before his hand clamped down on my right shoulder then the searing pain took over in my left. I squeezed my eyes shut until bursts of color appeared and an ear shattering wail escaped my lips. The pain was agonizing, the only thing that kept me from blacking out was the tight grip he held on my shoulder. After 3 excruciating minutes, he pulled the rod off my skin and dumped it in a pail of water. "Now darling –" He lifted my chin until I looked at him in the eyes. "Now, there's no doubt as to whose you are." He winked at me and left the room.

He made it halfway to the dining hall before his father yelled out his name, "Taylor!"

He let out an exasperated and turned to his old man. "Yes?" Teeth clenched.

"What's with the attitude? How're the girls coming along?"

"Great. The weak ones have pretty much been weeded out. They'll be ready soon enough." Taylor turned his shoulder, ready to leave.

"Son. This is important to our kingdom . . . don't screw it up." His father turned and left.

Once Taylor made it to the dining hall he informed Ben to go down and get me tomorrow morning before the next Challenge.

* * *

I sat in the dark all by myself, no noises, no voices, not even my own heartbeat. I couldn't hear it – I was convinced I was dead. All my life, the dark had been my greatest fear, and water came right after that . . . this place seemed to suffocate me with them, I swore to myself I'd be strong – I'd protect Dana and I'd get us the hell out of here. With God by my side I can do it, I can do it all. It was then that the blonde guard came in, "Nice night?" He cut the rope around my wrists, causing me to crash into him. "Okay, up you go. Can you walk?"

I nodded, not really knowing if I could. My shoulder hurt like a bitch, I was starving and dehydrated. "Yeah." I croaked out, my throat was sore from all the screaming and crying and cursing.

We walked through the castle to the room with all the other girls. "Hopefully, last night was the last try for you; the punishments will only get worse." Ben opened the door and gave me a short push. "The next Challenge will begin shortly." He closed the door and went back up the stairs.

I had just begun to drift off into sleep when a round man burst into the room, "Get up! Everyone is waiting!" He snarled as 10 men lead us from the cell to a giant courtyard.

"Ladies! It's so wonderful to see you all." Taylor's eyes flicked through the crowd of girls until his dark blue eyes rested on me. "I trust everyone slept well?" Dana's hand squeezed mine. "Today – your challenge, as you see behind me, is a maze." He gestured with his hand. "Find your way through and you're safe." He winked at Dana with a smug twinkle in his eye. Dana had a black eye and bruised lip when I got back, I was definitely seething. "And of course, you have to avoid the Metus."

Dana looked at me, "What the hell is a Metus?" I shrugged.

"A Metus is a being of fear; their presence fills you with terror until your heart stops." Taylor walked over to a small brunette girl who had started to cry, "Shhh, you have nothing to fear . . . oh well – you do." He trailed his finger down her cheek and smiled. "You'll need your wits, determination and your strength. And as it seems, some of you are already at a disadvantage." His eyes locked onto mine and walked over. "How are you feeling, Kelly?"

Dana glared at him. "She's fine."

"We'll both be fine." I glared at him as well.

"Well, go on girls! Have fun!" He laughed as we all took off running into the maze with 30 foot high hedges.

"Kelly, we've got to be smart about this." We ran side by side at the back of the group.

"Okay, what do you think those Metus things look like? Can we avoid them?" Dana and I turned a corner to see a girl lying on the ground.

"Oh no! Stacy!" Dana ran up to her and put her fingers to her neck. She looked up at me.

"Damn!" I turned over my shoulder to look for any signs of a struggle or a monster. "There's nothing here!"

"That asshole!" She stood up and growled, looking at me with anger in her eyes. Then her eyes shot behind me, and fear filled them. "Kelly, why is there a primal dude here?" Her voice cracked. I looked over my shoulder again to see a shadow figure. His frame was tall and wide, but his face held no features, I could see the hedges a little through his stomach; he was just . . . a shadow.

I looked back to Dana, "Dana, there's no one there – it's a –" Then it hit me, Dana is terrified of cannibals, the Metus fills you with fear, so it must fill you with your own fear. "Dana, run!" I grabbed her hand with my good arm and we took off through the hundreds of miles of hedges.

"Kelly! He's gonna eat us!" Her voice seeped with fear and it hurt my heart, I looked over my shoulder to see the shadow man leisurely walking behind us. I pushed her harder. We turned yet another corner to be led to an open cast iron gate when Jacqueline and two other girls ran into our path and screamed.

"Are you real?!" Jacqueline pointed her finger at Dana and I.

"Unless I'm your worst nightmare, Jacqueline," I gave her a sweet smile. "We're real."

"But it's right behind us! So let's haul ass!" Dana pushed through the other girls and ran through the gate, followed by the other two girls. We stood there glaring at each other for a second before her eyes shot behind me and fear clouded her eyes. I turned to see the black man walking towards us, I wonder what Jacqueline was seeing; I turned to look at her when a right hook hit my jaw. My head whipped around then back to see Jacqueline running through the gate and slamming it shut.

"Are you crazy?!" Dana punched Jacqueline in the nose, causing blood to spray everywhere. Dana tried pulling on the gate handle, but stopped to look up at me, "It's locked."

The Metus was beginning to advance on me, and now with the gate locked, I only had one path left. "Go. Please, I'll meet you at the end! I'll be there!"

"It's a date!" She smiled and took off; I laughed and ran down the other possible way.

Dana stood at the end, facing a 20 foot gate; waiting. "Come on, come on!" Tears pricked her grey eyes.

Ben looked to Taylor, "Ready to call it, sir?"

"Not yet."

Another 15 minutes ticked by, "How about now, sir?"

Taylor sighed heavily, "I guess."

"No! Please wait, she's coming! She always does!" Dana sobbed and pleaded Taylor.

"It's too late – no one survives this long. She's –"

I ran up to the gate and gripped the bars, "Hey, mind letting me in?"

"No! Kelly, the cannibal – behind you!" She whispered in horror. I barely heard her, but the raspy breath of a male came from behind me. Taylor's eyes looked around, he couldn't see it; it wasn't actually there.

"Dana, I need you to breathe . . ." I placed both hands on the gate now. "Love, look at me!"

Her beautiful soggy eyes tore away from the image behind me to lock onto mine. "It's gonna get you . . ." She breathed.

"Dana, tell yourself that it's not there! There's nothing there!" A hot, nasty breath hit the nape of my neck.

"But –"

"Close your eyes and say it! Believe it! Dana, I would never lie to you . . ." A finger traced my left shoulder, as I squeezed the bars tighter and Dana did the same with her eyes.

"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real . . ." Taylor stared over at Dana as she chanted, then her eyes snapped open with a smile, "Hey, he's gone!"

I took a shaky breath and smiled back, "Now can we open the f-ing gate!?" We hugged each other after the gate was opened before Taylor's voice rang out.

"I'm impressed, Dana."

"Thanks." She muttered.

"Well girls, 29 left . . . that's still a pretty big number." He gestured to his guards as they led us to a door leading back into the castle. "Miss Carter."

I stopped, but didn't turn.

"I'm curious, what did you see?" He stood behind me.

"Spiders." I lied.

"Hmmm . . ." He brushed a strand of hair from my hurt shoulder. "Liar." He placed his palm on my burn and applied pressure.

My scream startled the birds from the courtyard, "What did you see?" He growled in my ear.

"Please stop!" Tears spilled down my cheeks, I grabbed his arm that had snaked around my waist.

"Tell me." He commanded and pushed harder. A whimper escaped my lips as blackness filled my vision; I fell into his hard body. "You will tell me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh man! Sorry for the reallyyy late update! I've been working on my portfolio and also my sister and I have had a lot of computer issues over the past couple weeks, but I'm back! Hopefully for good! Let's just pray Old Pete(my laptop) can manage to keep chugging along! :)**

**Vikki S-You're just too sweet! (: not creepy at all I swear lol! And thank you because I've been real nevrvous about my writing! I posted this as fast as I could for you so I hope you enjoy it!**

**And thank you to everyone else who stops for a minute to read my story! I hope you like it (: feel free to leave a review or opinion!**

* * *

I opened my eyes then closed them quickly. "Light too bright?" His thick voice came to me in a chuckle. "Good."

"Dick." I mumbled under my breath; his palm gripped my face.

"Say it again." He threatened as I shook my head. "Smart girl." Pulling me into a sitting position, he frowned. "Look at me."

I trailed my eyes up his body to stop at his eyes.

"I would like to apologize to you, particularly."

"What?" My eyes widened followed by raised eyebrows; a smile kissed his lips as amusement filled his face.

"I'm sorry for your shoulder. I don't invoke the punishments."

I gawked at him, for a second I thought he was being sarcastic. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to speak. "You burned an image into my shoulder." Carefully testing my words, I waited for his reaction.

"You shoved a scalpel into mine," He shrugged, "We're even."

I was pretty sure we were nowhere close to being even, but I decided to let it go and keep my mouth shut.

"My father usually handles the Challenges, but this year he gave the responsibility to me." If I didn't know better, I would've said his words held a touch of disdain when he spoke of his father and the Challenges.

"Why didn't you just say no?"

"He's not the type of man you can just say 'no' to." He walked to a table and picked up a jar with green gunk inside.

"I would." I shrugged as he walked back over to me with the jar in his hand.

He chuckled lightly, "I know you would; I admire that in you."

"What is that?" My nose wrinkled up as he unscrewed the lid.

"A salve –"

"Will it eat my brain?!" I pulled my body back when he chuckled again.

"No, it's not going to eat your brain. Your shoulder has become infected."

I scoffed, "Yeah, no shit." I clicked my jaw shut, afraid for a beating but his perfect white teeth gleamed at me and a hint of a dimple appeared on the left side of his mouth.

"See? This is why you have problems." He laid the lid back on the table before motioning to my tank top. "Take off your top."

I covered my mid-section and chest with my arms, "Excuse me?"

"Remove your shirt." He stood in front of me, unblinking,

Scoff. "No."

His lips twitched in an attempt to hide his signature smirk. "Take it off, or I'll take it off for you." I narrowed my eyes at him and him at me; he took a small step toward me.

"Okay, okay!" I held up my hand and pulled the hem of my shirt over my head. It was painful and awkward, I did my best to keep my shoulder clear of the fabric, but in doing so I must've looked beyond ridiculous.

I placed the shirt on the table beside me and watched as his eyes trailed up and down my body until they connected with mine, "Well . . ."

"If you want a peep show, go find yourself a whore house."

His palm took a hold of my jaw, "Excuse you?!" I could practically feel the bruises forming around my mandible. "How dare you speak to me like that? I'm trying to help you."

I tried to choke out my apologizes, but his grip was too tight. "Sorry –"

He softened his grip, but kept hold and pressed his lips next to my ear. "When I want you in my bed, you will be. Understand?" His words stunned the words right out of my kind. I was speechless. "Do you understand?!" His free hand squeezed the inside of my thigh.

"Yes."

"'Yes' what?" He purred.

"Yes . . . sir." I gritted my teeth on my last word.

"That's my girl." He pulled away to the other side of the table.

"I'm not your girl." I muttered. He heaved a heavy sigh, and then his hand came down on my burn.

I screamed. "What was that!?"

"Nothing!"

"Are you still forgetting whose you are?!" He growled; it was then that I saw the man standing in the doorway. I've never seen him before, but he looked familiar, he had jet black hair and a square jaw like Taylor's. The pain radiating through my body caused me to snap back to reality.

"Tell me, who do you belong to?" His palm dug in again, but I refused to let him win. I would not give him the satisfaction.

"Eat me." He dug harder. "You can do whatever you want, but I refuse to say it!" I spit out from clenched teeth.

He leaned in to my ear, "I never said I'd hurt you. I know what's important to you, so important that you've almost died several times for her."

Dana.

Her face flashed in my head, I bit my lip and growled through another jab from his hand to my shoulder.

"Fine."The pain stopped and I noticed Taylor walking to leave the room.

"No!" I cried, almost falling to the floor as I scrambled off the table. "Please. She's not a part of this. Only me. I'm yours."

Taylor made his way to stand in front of me, chest to chest, his father still stood at the door, watching my confidence deplete. "Say it again."

"I'm yours." A little part of me died. A sharp pinch on my forearm made me blink twice before seeing the needle in his hand.

* * *

"Very good, Taylor. That's the one causing all the problems, correct?"

"Yes." He laid my unconscious body back on the table.

"I'm surprised you haven't broken her in yet." His father chuckled. "I would have."

Taylor turned his eyes on his father, trying not to glare. "I didn't ask for this."

"She's attractive enough. Have you decided when to hold the auction?"

"I'm not sure I'm doing it this year."

"The hell you're not! Our guards have worked hard this season, it's their favorite part." Taylor scoffed at his father's words.

"Of course it is . . . they can't get laid any other way."

"Bite your tongue, boy."

"Sorry, father." Taylor bowed his head.

"Just make sure you don't screw this up."

Taylor nodded with his head still bowed, "I'll try my best, father." His father turned to leave the room and walked past Ben, giving him a nod.

"Taylor? One of the girls won't stop vomiting." Ben watched as Taylor slathered salve on my shoulder.

"Ugh. Deal with it." Taylor's brow furrowed.

"You mean . . . kill her?"

"No! Bring her to Marjorie. Geez, Ben . . . did my father get in your head too?" He put gauze over the salve.

Ben shook his head then sighed. "No sir, I'm just unsure of your new decisions."

"Ben – we've been best friends since diapers, don't call me 'sir'." This time it was Taylor's turn to sigh, "I know I've been acting . . . strange."

Ben scratched his head awkwardly, "Not strange – just . . . like your father."

"Ouch."

"Sorry, but it's true. I know it's because of all these new responsibilities, so I know how hard this is for you." Ben motioned to me on the table.

"Thank you." Taylor mumbled and watched Ben leave. "It'll all be over soon, hopefully."

* * *

A women's shrill scream woke me up from my drug induced slumber; when I raised my head to see what was happening I saw a couple guards restraining an older blonde lady who was thrashing and flailing everywhere. "Get me a sedative!" A short, plump woman hollered out as another nurse came up with a needle. I laid my head back down so they wouldn't notice I was awake. "Calm down, lassie!" I looked over once more before rolling off the table and hiding behind a curtain. A crash made me jump, the woman had kicked over a tray of tools, taking advantage of the distraction; I rushed out the door and down a skinny hallway. I stopped to catch my breath and catch my bearings, I was standing in a small hallway with tall ceilings and light walls, I've seen enough old movies to realize I must've been in the servants corridor. It took a moment for the gravity of the situation to hit me; I was trying to escape a castle . . . a freaking castle! Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, I hid behind a corner just in time to watch two women walk past with their arms full of laundry, chatting away. I took a deep breath before creeping along the wall until the small hallway changed into a lavish antechamber; it was complete with marble floors, dark stained cedar doorframes and rafters paired with draperies that swooped from side to side. A door at the end of the hall opened as a brunette maid appeared holding more laundry; I shot for the first door to my left and slid inside, closing the door quietly. I turned to see a luxurious bedroom with dark gray furniture, a king sized bed sat against the left wall perfectly covered with black silk sheets, two bedside tables sat with lamps on top. Across the room was a walk-in closet and a door to a private bathroom. Needless to say, I could fit my entire house in this room . . . maybe twice. "Wow." I was walking over to an enormous window when a voice came from outside the door. My heart skipped a beat as I bolted for the walk-in closet and shut myself inside; I didn't get the door completely shut before the outside door opened.

"If you have any more questions just find Ben."

NO. I peeked though the small crack in the door and saw Taylor standing at the base of his bed, unbuttoning his shirt. No, no, no. Leave it on. Walk out of the room! Ugh! I shook my head and took a step back, maybe if I hid under one of his millions of racks of clothes I'd be safe – geez! I went back to looking through the crack when my heart skipped. He had removed his shirt and bent to untie his boots, his muscles pulled against the skin of his forearm. After removing his boots, Taylor straightened up and rubbed his neck. His tanned skin tightened over his chiseled chest and relaxed over his sculpted abs, his jeans hugged dangerously low on his slender hips, exposing a long scar traveling from his navel to his left side. I gasped. I covered my mouth, but not before he snapped his head in the direction of the closet. He closed his eyes and inhaled deep, his dark blue eyes locking onto the crack into the door; he started toward the door when a young black man burst through the door.

"Sir!" He looked down as if embarrassed.

"What?!" Taylor growled as he whipped around.

"One of the girls is missing . . ."

Taylor scratched his head. "Kelly."

My heart stopped and my eyes grew wide, did he know I was in here? But the black man nodded, "Yes, she escaped from the medical room."

Taylor growled, throwing on his boots and grabbing his shirt, "Let's go."

I counted out five minutes before I left Taylor's room and snuck my way down the marble staircase I had seen before the maze Challenge.

"Okay, Kelly. Where are we going?" I thought about it for a second before running across the throne room to a beautiful stained glass window of a majestic wolf sleeping under the stars. The window was small, but I knew it'd be big enough for me to slide through. I looked around for something to break the window and came up short; I'd have to use my arm. I covered my face and rammed my elbow into the glass, my elbow felt broken, but the window remained intact. "Shit!" I stood back and got in my kick boxing stance then kicked it. Then I kicked it again, "Come on!" My last kick shattered the glass, cutting my foot and ankle up in the process.

"Check the throne room!" Someone called from a hallway.

I pulled the biggest pieces of glass from my foot and cleared away any remaining glass from the windowsill before crawling through it. I fell onto a patch of grass with a rough, 'ugh', after checking my surroundings I ran toward the bridge that led over a creek and to the forest. I looked back to see a man stick his head out the window and holler behind him, "She's running to the forest!"

I ran. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me without buckling. Leaves and dirt stuck to my dampened feet and legs, rocks, sticks and the glass dug deeper into the base of my feet, but I kept running. Run for freedom. Dana's freedom. The other girls' freedom. Your freedom. Howls erupted behind me and the ground shook, I could hear the pounding of paws against the forest floor. I ducked beneath a fallen tree trunk, heaved myself over another and stumbled over a fallen sign. It said, 'Danger! Orc territory!' What the hell is an Orc? I pushed myself up and found myself climbing a steep knoll just to stop short.

"No!" Below me was a drop into a canyon with rocks littering the bottom, I'd like to assume some skeletons of other women who tried to escape as well. Maybe I was the first to get this far? I couldn't be . . . I hurled myself back down and started to go right, maybe I would be lucky enough to find a bridge across. A snarl left me motionless, up ahead with its back to me was a greasy, fat . . . Orc? I have no idea, its hair was falling out, its skin was a deep dark purplish bruise color, but the worst was the smell . . . oh God! Before I could take a step away, a hand wrapped around my mouth as another slid over my waist.

"Shhh." Lips whispered against my ear as the man behind me took steps away from the Orc until I was slammed against the bark of a tree.

Taylor's eyes were black with anger as they connected with mine. I'm dead. I'd rather deal with the Orc . . .

He held my mouth shut and pressed his body on mine as he checked around the tree. "Let's go." His words were barely legible due to his growl; he dragged me along as his growls continued.

"Let me go!" I was pulling against his wrist when he brought his hand to my cheek in a powerful slap. I gasped and clutched my cheek; the sheer force caused my eyes to water.

"Don't speak." He growled in my face.

"You're a bastard!" I tried growling back. He slapped me again – just as hard.

"Don't. Speak." He grabbed my arm and began leading us back to the castle. We were at the bridge when I kicked him in the knee and tried to run away.

His fingers weaved themselves in my hair as he ripped me back into his chest. "When will you learn?" His teeth nipped my ear; he slid his mouth to the base of my neck and inhaled. I fidgeted in his grasp and he let out a deep rumble. "Did you enjoy it?"

"What?" I grunted as he released my hair.

"Did you enjoy watching me undress?" I could hear his lips turn up into his sexy smirk.

I felt my cheeks redden, "I have no idea what you're –"

"Your scent was in my bedchambers, Kelly. If you wanted to see it, all you had to do was ask."

"Must've been someone else." I ignored his comment, looking to the stony castle.

He leaned down to take another deep inhale of my neck. "I'd never mistake your scent, Kelly."

My skin tingled at his touch, "Get the hell off me." I gritted my teeth.

He sighed, but pulled me to the castle gate, "Your punishment will be severe this time, Kelly."

* * *

He led me to the same room as last time, "So another burn mark? Or is it torture this time?" He let go of my arm and chuckled.

"Not this time." He closed the door and slid the lock shut. The same darkness welcomed me again, my breathing quickened. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're scared." His voice came from right in front of me.

"You're wrong." I swallowed my fear.

"What'd you see when the Metus looked at you?" The room was still dark so he couldn't see the shock on my face.

"Why are you curious?" I took a step back, but he pulled me forward.

"Tell me!" He growled.

"A man!" I spit out, hitting him in the chest. "A shadow of a man! That's it."

He was quiet until fingers touched my neck. "The mermaid gave you gills didn't she?"

"I told you she kissed me."

"I figured you were lying, no one has ever survived a mermaid kiss." I jumped when his fingers touched my lips. "Amazing." We stood in silence until he heaved a sigh.

"Just do it." I closed my eyes as he pulled me through the darkness until pressing my back against a wall.

"Stay there." I heard the cabinet open one second then he brought my hands above my head and chained them to a hook. "Turn around." I did as he said then he told me to count. Count what? Then the whip hit my back. The pain shot through my back to my arms and legs. If the chain hadn't have been there, I would've collapsed; I pulled on the chains to keep my mind focused on that pain, but every crack of the whip reminded me of the next to come. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out, my voice left me. The leather carved more and more of my back away, I heard the rip of my shirt, or my skin – I'm not sure. This happened fourteen more times before the cabinet squeaked shut, his hand brushed away hair from my shoulder. "Very good, Kelly." My tears fell freely and sobs racked my body; he pulled my hands from the chains and I fell into his arms. He held me upright until my shaking subsided then he tilted my head back and tried pouring something down my throat.

"No." My voice cracked as I tried pushing his body away. He gripped me tighter and poured it in my mouth then covered my mouth and nose. I squirmed and shook my head, but it went down easily.

"Did you swallow?" I nodded before he walked us to the door, I tried walking on my own, but I fell to my knees, sending a shock of pain through my back. I whimpered as fresh tears sprang to my eyes. "Come on." His voice was soft as he led me down the corridors to the cell with the other girls. "Are you going to stop fighting now?" His arm shifted from being around my waist to being clamped tightly around my upper arm.

I mumbled.

He pulled us to a stop and looked at me, "What was that?"

I took a breath and trailed my eyes up to his, "Never." He smiled for a second then wiped a tear from my cheek.

We got to the cell with the other girls when Dana jumped up, "Kelly!"

"Get back." Taylor warned before opening the door for me. "Next Challenge is tomorrow, ladies!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Vikki S-Oh my gosh, happy birthday! I'm not sure if I'm too early or late, but I hope it was/is wonderful! You can definitely be my number two fan (: It really means a lot to me that you like my story so much! You're just the greatest; and yeah I hope you continue to like Taylor(;**

**CelticAngel86-thank you dear sister, I love that you like it and thanks so much for the review! I guess you won't know anything for sure until I get to that chapter now will you?!(; Hahaha**

**Special thanks to everyone who enjoys my story as well, hopefully you'll continue to like it!**

**Woot woot, new update soon!**

"That bastard! How can they treat us like this?!" Dana held my hand as I slowly sat down.

"Maybe if Kelly stopped trying to be a hero, we'd be fine." Jacqueline huffed, walking up behind me and 'bumping' her shoulder into my back, the pain shot through me as if it was happening all over again; Dana screamed too, but hers was a word and it was directed at Jacqueline, she threw herself into Jacqueline like a linebacker and slammed her to the ground. Jacqueline's head cracked against the dirt floor as she began struggling with Dana's fists.

"No! Dana, she's not worth it!" I hollered, using the sweet brunette girl, Monica, to stand up.

"You ungrateful brat, she saved your life!" Dana got three solid punches in before two guards ran in and tore them a part. "Let me at her!" Dana yelled at the blonde.

Taylor heaved a heavy sigh as he walked in, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, "You girls just can't behave – " He looked from me to the two girls, "You –" He pointed to the girls then back to me again. "You weren't involved?" I shook my head; he looked back and forth once more, disbelief and shock painted clearly over his features. "Huh."

"She's crazy!" Jacqueline screamed, blood trickling from her nose.

"What caused this?" Taylor turned his glare to Dana.

"She hit Kelly's back." Dana kept her glare fixated on Jacqueline. Taylor looked at me from the corner of his eye then back to Dana and Jacqueline.

"You two will be a pair. Come on ladies, next Challenge starts now."

We were led outside through a wooded area that reminded me of a Legend of Zelda game, the trees were skinny and pale, most woodland creatures were chittering away or chasing each other, and then everything stopped, all noises, all life, all everything. In the middle of a clearing was a large cave, they led us around the back and up the side to the top, overlooking a good portion of the clearing and woods.

"Two by two you will jump into the cave and come out the other side." He stopped three feet from a gaping hole leading into the cave beneath us. "The goal is to make it out with both people –" As he spoke Monica inched closer to see down into the darkness, a hand reached up, grabbed her ankle and dragged her into the dark.

"Monica!" Everyone screamed, frozen from shock. I looked to Taylor with my mouth hanging open, but he shrugged.

"We haven't fed them for a while; you might want to get down there."

"Damn." I stepped up to the hole, half expecting the same thing to grab me, but nothing did. I bent my knees and hopped into the darkness, the sudden stop jolted up my legs and hit my back; I doubled over and fell to my knees. I took a deep breath and looked around as much as I could with the minimal light coming from above me. It seemed to split off into three tunnels, each one was cloaked in nothingness; I crawled forward to see down the tunnel to my left, "Monica?" My voice cracked and I barely heard it myself. The smell of the cave clogged my nose, it smelt of dirt and death, I held my vomit in as my hands and knees crunched on something covering the cave floor. A scratching sound filled the cave, the sound got closer before I realized it was coming straight for me; I tried to get up and run, but my knee gave out and whatever it was hit me in the side. I struggled against its cold hands and putrid breath as a tongue slid across my cheek and nose; I screamed before pushing it off and scrambling down the first tunnel I saw. It followed me through the tunnel and caught my ankle to drag me back to it; it flipped me over onto my back causing me to let out a piercing cry, the creature wailed and scurried down the tunnel. I pushed over onto my stomach and listened for a second; I listened for Monica . . . I listened until I heard it – a gurgle sound that made my stomach drop. I crawled down to where I dropped from and followed the tunnel to the right, the sound came again, louder this time. My hand connected with the warm flesh of Monica's leg. "Oh thank God. Monica?" I reached up to where I assumed her face would be. "Are you okay?" I felt down her cheek to check her pulse, only to stick my fingers through torn and squishy tissue. Blood covered my hands, "No." I tried checking again, but my fingers could only find her torn and bleeding throat. "NO!" I lifted her head and cradled it for a minute, sending silent prayers with her as she left this godforsaken place. I began to drag Monica to the middle tunnel, hoping the exit was down that way, when she was ripped from my hands and away into the dark. "No! Monica!" I tried crawling for her, but the tearing of flesh and slurping of blood told me there was no way. Sitting in defeat, I told myself that she was dead before I even got in here, if she was alive I would've heard her – I stopped arguing with myself and pushed forward to the exit. I walked out to see Taylor grinning at me, I ran over and punched him in the jaw as hard as my pitiful strength would allow; he came back with a slap.

"Don't blame me for your failure to save her."

"Screw you." I wiped Monica's blood onto my shorts.

"Keep talking and I'll give you fifteen more lashes." He pushed me to the ground.

We were down two more girls with only Dana and Jacqueline left, they had entered 27 minutes ago, that's when the guard from up top came down, "Ready to call it, sir?" Ben's voice held a certain melancholy tone.

Taylor waved a hand at the guard, "Five more minutes."

Three minutes passed and my stomach went from bad to worse, that's when Jacqueline ran out, wheezing with her hand over her mouth; the girls cheered, hugged her, made sure she was okay and asked what had happened.

"Oh it was horrible –"

"Where is she?" I interrupted her sob story that all of us just went through as well. I stepped up to her and screamed in her face. "Where is my cousin!?"

"She's gone." Jacqueline hung her head, but I shook mine. The forest seemed to darken, the sun hid from my fury, the clouds opened up and poured my rage out onto the earth, my heart tightened in my chest; I felt the pain of loss, but I told myself, "No." I bolted over to Ben and ripped his tranq gun from his waistband, twirling around and running back into the cave after her. Darkness engulfed me once again, but I didn't care, "Dana?" I stomped my way through the tunnel to the starting point, I tripped over a body before I flipped on the tranq guns light to check who it was, not Dana. Okay, where are you? "Dana! Answer me!" The light from the gun cut through the dark, sending creatures of all shapes and sizes running for cover; I was turning a corner to the left tunnel when a mangled body of a person threw itself at me; I raised the gun and shot twice into its chest, leaving it to collapse to the ground. What the hell are these things? Its body was short and squatty while its head was double the size of normal humans, the teeth shone bright under my light and the skin was splotchy colors. "Disgusting."

"Kelly?"

"Dana!" I whirled around to see her emerge from behind a rock with a femur, "Ew."

"Right, cause I could afford to be picky." She glared at me and limped over, "Something took a bite out of my leg, or at least tried to."

"Shit. We need –"

"Is that a gun?" She touched the barrel. "Where the hell did you get that?!"

"Guard." I shrugged; she smiled.

"Aww, you stole a weapon from a Werewolf to come save me, my hero!" She gave me a quick bat of her eyes before snapping her eyes behind me. "We should go." I turned and saw the four pairs of eyes lurking in the dark.

"This way." We half ran, half limped through the middle tunnel to the exit when one of the things jumped out from the dark and blocked our path.

"Shoot!" Dana ducked as I raised the gun and shot three times, the first shot hit the wall behind it, the second one hit its shoulder and the third hit the stomach. "Nice shooting."

"I can leave you." I yelled at her over my shoulder then brought the gun around and shot at the one crawling toward our flank. Dana and I ran her to the cave entrance and threw our arms around each other, the rain beat down on our heads and the cold breeze shook our bodies, but we held tight.

"Thank you." She whispered before pulling away to smile at my rain drenched face; she let out a shaky laugh, "Well, that was super exciting – let's never do it again." She was starting to say something else when her feet got wiped out from underneath her and she was pulled back into the cave.

"Dana!" I grabbed her arm, stopping her from completely entering the cave again.

"If you let me go I'll haunt you forever!" She gripped my arms tightly.

"Don't make me laugh; you'd be a lazy ass ghost!" I pulled as hard as I could, but my strength was depleting; I couldn't hold her. Just when I thought I'd lose her, a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and gripped onto Dana's arm. He easily pulled Dana's leg from the monsters grasp; I helped her stand up and step away from the cave before turning to see Taylor walking away.

"Gun." Ben held his hand out.

"Sorry." I laid it in his hand and looked to Dana, "I hope you can understand . . . I had to." I looked back to Ben to find him watching Dana.

"I do." He led us back to the castle walls to find Taylor standing on a stone balcony overlooking the forest and a creek bed.

"Are you girls tired?" Taylor stood in front of the thick wooden door leading inside with his arms casually behind him; I was still waiting for him to grab me by the hair ad drag me down to that room for another burn mark or something for assaulting him and stealing a weapon from a guard. "I understand . . . ready for your next Challenge?"

Dana hung her head, "Bollocks."

"Some_one_ traveled into Orc territory –" His eyes bore into mine, "So now they've begun wandering into our forests, eating our livestock and killing our people." I looked away from his gaze; the guilt I felt weighed on my heart.

"Thirteen of you will be tied to stakes down in the forest through there, you see?" We looked into the words to see a few stakes spread through a less dense part of the trees. "And thirteen of you will be up here; you'll be equipped with a bow and a quiver of arrows. The girls up here are in charge of keeping their partner alive down in the forest, while the other girl is entirely helpless." He stepped up to the girls who would be tied down on a stake, when he got to Jacqueline her jaw dropped.

"Why?!"

He whipped his head around to glare at her, "Because cowards don't deserve a chance to survive."

"She was gone before I could get to her!" She yelled back.

"Kelly got her." His voice clipped away any argument she could further; he worked his way down the line to Dana and I. "You'll be on the stake." He looked at me, "Because this is all on you."

"I've never shot a bow before in my life." Dana held it in her hands and gave Taylor a look.

"Technically, you're shooting an arrow WITH a bow." Ben commented with a slight smile at her aggravation.

Taylor stepped next to her, "The Orcs already have her scent so the majority of them will head straight for her, are you ready for that?" He arched an eyebrow.

"No! I've never used one of these before; I don't know the first thing about firing one." She looked through the trees to my stake; movement from the trees to the left caught her attention.

"Well, you better learn fast." He backed away as Dana pulled an arrow out and stuck it to the string and pulled it taunt, she took a deep breath and let the arrow fly . . . backwards.

"Watch it." Taylor dodged it.

"Rats." Dana took aim again as an Orc leapt from the bushes and rushed for me. Its smell hit me before it did, its meaty fist connected with my jaw then again with my gut; I raised my leg and kicked him away from the stake only to have him run back at me. Dana tried the arrow a second time, for it to fall short, "Dang it! Hold on, Kelly!" Her eyes slit into a glare trained on the Orc in front of me.

"Focus." Taylor whispered near Dana's ear, he placed his right hand on her elbow and lowered it to the proper height; he covered her left hand with his and squeezed ever so slightly, just to make her tighten her grip. "Take a breath and focus." Dana heard her heart thump loudly as a second Orc bounded from the trees toward my stake; she took a deep breath and released it with her arrow. It missed the Orc, but came closer than most. "Close. Try again. You must focus." He took a step back, but kept his eyes on her form.

"Thanks, Yoda." She pulled out another arrow before following the same procedure; on her exhale, she let the arrow fly through the air down into the first Orcs chest. She told herself she'd celebrate later, the second Orc was thrashing for my abdomen and he was getting closer with each swipe; she strung an arrow and let it fly in between the trees down into my left leg.

I screamed in pain as the Orc stopped and stared at my leg, as if he was confused, "Damn it, Dana! Them, not me!"

"Sorry!"She called down as Taylor burst out laughing; Dana turned and glared at them while getting her next arrow ready. Okay breathe . . . the arrow soared into the Orcs throat, "Yes!" She squealed and clapped, looking over to see Taylor and Ben's mouths hanging open. A smug smile plastered itself on her face as she turned back to me, "Focus." She breathed; another Orc ran at me with a deafening roar, bringing three more with it.

My eyes grew wide at the sheer enormity of these ugly assholes, "Dana!" I screamed before dodging an ax to my stake; an arrow sliced into its face and it fell back into the third one. Dana got another arrow ready, watching the second Orc run at me; she clipped its shoulder, but it still continued, her next arrow hit its chest, it stumbled a bit, but it kept coming.

"Mother –"

"Dana!" I hollered, closing my eyes just when a _thud_ shook the ground. I peeked out and saw the Orc on the grass in front of me with an arrow sticking out of its skull. "Dana – ropes!" With a split second to think, she laced another arrow and shot it down into the ropes around my wrists.

"Go!" Dana yelled as she took aim at the third Orc that had fallen earlier.

I pulled my wrists free and bent to tentatively touch the arrow sticking out of my calf muscle, "Nope nope. You can stay in." I ripped an arrow from an Orcs head and hobbled to the next girl on a post, cutting her loose and moving onto the next until every girl was running for the castle . . . except one. Jacqueline stood with her arms still tied behind the pole; I stopped for a second, looking at her ugly, scared face and my heart twisted. "Damn." I ran over and cut the ties around her wrists.

"Surprising." Taylor watched as Jacqueline and I ran for the castle stairs.

An Orc charged for Jacqueline as we passed by the small creek, "Jacqueline!" I pushed her out of its way to be thrown down in the water. Jacqueline stopped and looked back to see me in the water, struggling against the Orc that was meant for her; she looked up to the balcony and saw Taylor staring at her, she groaned before running to the side of the creek to pick up a rock. The Orcs weight was constantly pushing my back into the gravel underwater and my face kept falling below the surface.

"Uh – hey!" Jacqueline tossed her rock at its head, when it turned to look at her, she screamed and backed away. "Help!"

I pulled my mouth above the water, taking advantage of the distraction, "Dana!"

Dana ran to the edge of the balcony and readied her bow and arrow to take the shot, "Kelly, lift him higher!" The shrubbery was too tall to see down into the ravine, she could get a shoulder shot, but that wouldn't do much damage it this Orc. I struggled against his weight and the thrashing of its claws and jaw trying to nab a piece of my flesh; the cold water froze my muscles and stung my throat as I gulped mouthfuls down and my back filled the creek with a river of blood. How would I get him higher . . . I looked above me to see Dana blocked by the bushes, Jacqueline's rocks no longer affected the bastard. "On the count of three!" Dana's voice was muffled by the water rushing passed my ears, but I heard her begin to count off. Wiggling my back further into the gravel, I tucked my legs one by one in between our bodies and planted my feet squarely on its abdomen; Dana counted to two by the time I got my legs under him, "Three . . ." I braced my back on the bottom of the creek, pain shot through my back and I screamed out, "Now!" Dana yelled as I pushed with all my might, my legs buckled, but I dug deeper into the river bank and struggled harder to straighten my legs until I got him well above the bushes with another scream of pain and determination. An arrow flew through his head as dead weight collapsed on top my chest, Jacqueline pulled his arm just enough for me to slide out from underneath it.

"Thanks."

"Yeah no problem." She grabbed my arm and led me to the stairs, we hit the balcony and Dana limped over to take Jacqueline's spot next to me.

"Are you okay?" Dana touched my shoulder, meaning my back.

"Perfect." Even though every sense and brain cell told me to scream and drive an arrow through my skull.

"I have matters to attend to; I'll speak with you all in your cell later." Taylor turned without another word and left us in Ben's command.

"Back to the cell, girls." Another guard led the way while Ben took the back with Dana and I close in front.

"I'm so sorry about your leg." She had her arm around my waist and mine around hers.

"I can't believe you couldn't hit the fat Orc, but my calf muscle was no issue." I chuckled, looking down at the arrow that was still lodged in my leg.

Dana bit back a chuckle, "Yeah, just our luck right? At least finally I wasn't the one in pain."

"Oh whatever! I haven't hurt you in months!" I scoffed as Dana shook her head.

"That's because we've been here for like a month and a half! Do you remember the Wal-Mart trip of death?" She asked ominously as we turned a corner to head downstairs; the impact of the stone stairs hurt my leg which made me slow down and Ben to bump into me.

"Would you keep moving?"

"Hey, she's got an arrow sticking out of her leg!" Dana glared back at him.

"Yeah and whose fault is that?" He cocked an eyebrow and a smile spread across his lips.

"'Whose fault is that?'" She mocked while limping her way down the rest of the stairs to the cell.

"Kelly." A tall thin girl walked up to me and touched my shoulder; her Swedish accent exemplified her gratitude. "We'd all be dead if it weren't for you."

I smiled at her beautiful face, "Actually, it was all because of Dana." I smiled again over my shoulder at her.

"It was both of you." Her high cheekbones rose higher, she hugged Dana's shoulders then turned to look at the other girls; they were talking amongst themselves, heads down, voices low and huddled in corners. "You two have unknowingly led us this far."

"I taught her everything she knows, Terra." Dana smugly flipped her hair over her shoulder as we took a seat on some wooden benches.

"Right," I rolled my eyes, "Because I wouldn't have taught you how to shoot me in the leg."

"You're gonna have to let that go!"

"It happened 45 minutes ago!" I exclaimed angrily, but couldn't hold back my laughter.

"Terra, you seem to be getting through this just fine – well, as fine as you can be under these circumstances." Dana pulled a twig out of my wet hair.

"My dad and brother are keen on a zombie apocalypse occurring, so we'd go through survival training every weekend." She shrugged.

"In Sweden?"

"No, we moved here 2 years ago from Sweden, but my dad and brother watch a lot of that Walking Dead show."

Dana and I laughed loud enough to get stares from several girls around the room, "Nice."

I stopped laughing, "Dana, I think there's a rock stuck in my back, could you check?" She stood up and went around the bench to see the full glory of whatever was left of my back.

"Kelly." She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand while reaching the other to my back.

"Is it bad?" I flinched, but didn't feel her touch.

"Do you feel this?"

I flinched, "Yes."

"Sorry. Kel, your shirt is in pieces . . . and there are rocks embedded in your cuts."

I took a deep breath and pulled at the hem of my shirt, "Help me." Dana carefully helped pulling it over my cuts and off my body, but not without a grimace. "Can you pull them out?" She looked at Terra, who had taken a spot next to Dana behind me.

"It'll be painful . . . some of these are really in there and your bra strap is in the way . . ." Dana would do a lot of things for me if I asked her, but asking her to essentially hurt me is too much.

"Never mind." I started to try and slide my arms back into my tattered shirt.

"No, I'll do it." She took a deep breath, "Cover yourself with your tank top so no guards get a peep." I stifled a giggle, but listened anyway. I wasn't ashamed of my body, a solid size 9 was okay with me, but I found my new scars and battle wounds made me self-conscience, especially my burn. It's been covered with gauze since it happened so I still have no idea what he marked on me. I covered myself before giving Dana the okay to unclasp my bra and start.

"Do you want to hold my hand?" Terra offered sweetly. I shook my head.

"No thanks." Dana cleared her throat uncomfortably and I knew she was reaching for my back, "Yes, yes I do." I took Terra's hand quickly while holding my shirt in place with the other. Dana's fingers grazed my torn flesh and carefully picked at the rubble; my eyes filled to the brim, but I refused to let them spill over, I told myself not to squeeze Terra's hand, but to hold it, not to scream, but to bite my tongue. Terra watched Dana pick and pull, grimacing every time I mentally screamed, after some time; I began to lose feeling only to have it rush back a moment later. I felt streaks of blood run down my bare back and I could practically hear the sound of it splashing into the puddle of my blood; the girls around the room turned to watch, it wasn't invasive, but rather humbling.

I would notice Dana's fingers stop every 30 seconds or so then continue on after a couple beats of my heart. "Kelly, this is going to hurt like a bitch." Her voice cracked and I knew she had been crying. I nodded, not trusting my own voice. Dana sighed before digging her finger into my back and hooking it around a rock, the pain hit me like a train; I threw my head back and screamed. Terra tried to calm me, but my scream stopped as I dropped my face into my hands. "Kelly –"

"Keep going." I cut Dana off as Ben appeared around the corner. He watched Dana dig in my skin, watched my hands clench, watched tears stream down Dana's cheeks . . . he watched before turning and walking back up the stairs.

**Thanks guys!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Sorry for the reallyyyy late update, it's my fault and it's only because I have been lazy lately so I apologize! :) Thank you to anyone who has been reading my story, it means a lot to me. Please leave a review or comment(: I'd love to hear from you about what you think! **

**I'll try and get the next chapter up faster than this one. Enjoy(:**

"You need to do something." Ben caught up to Taylor a few days later in the corridor above the dungeons.

"About what?"

"You know what." He pulled Taylor's arm, causing him to stop and fix him with a glare.

"No," He pulled his arm from Ben, "I don't."

"Kelly."

"What about her?" Taylor continued down the hall with Ben close behind.

"She could bleed to death." Ben growled. Taylor turned on Ben.

"The point of this–all of this shit, is to see who is strong enough to survive, to see which girls can be down and hurting and keep on going, to 'cross the finish line' as they say. To end this hell we must push them beyond their limits, if they break then they're dead; it's as simple as that, Benjamin, if Kelly and her cousin have made it this far then I have no doubt they'll make it a little further – if not at all the way. So do your job and I'll do mine." Taylor turned to the dungeon doors. "And let's pretend I didn't see you give up your gun."

"She pulled it from my belt." Ben looked down to the floor once Taylor looked over his shoulder.

"Let's leave it at that." Taylor opened the door and walked the rest of the way to our cell; he walked up to the door and watched as the girls' interacted with each other, they seemed calm and rested, almost normal . . . almost.

I had to tie my tank top together so it would actually stay on my body; Dana was sitting on the floor in front of me as we talked back and forth with Terra and a few other girls. "Well, the scalpel worked great! Maybe we could get our hands on another?"

"Okay, let's say we get a _few_ scalpels and find a way out of this 'cage' even if we get past a guard, what about the hundreds or even thousands more? We'd be dead before we even realized it." Terra shook her head, "Plus, half these girls aren't tough enough."

"They're tough enough to have made it this far, so let's give 'em a little credit." Dana looked at Terra with a shrug.

"There's no point." I interjected. "There's nowhere to run, when I ran the first time I noticed just how tightly shut up and guarded this place was and the second time through the forest – there's nothing out there that wouldn't think twice about killing us. We might as well play this out and hope they let us go after."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we fight." I touched the arrow that was still lodged in my calf, infecting my body.

"Having fun, ladies?" Every eye in the room shot up to the sound of his voice, he smiled half a smile and pulled out a blindfold. "Guess what time it is?"

"Ladies, you may remove your blindfolds." Taylor's voice rang out clear through the hot blistering air before we pulled the cloths down to see we were standing on an arena floor with a few hundred people watching from stone seats high over the same stone walls, once our blindfolds came down the crowd began to cheer. I looked to my left and saw Dana standing six or seven yards away, looking as shocked and confused as I was. I took a better look around and realized how it resembled the Roman coliseum, where men would fight each other and even wild animals. The arena floor itself seemed to be sand and dirt mixed with blood and crushed bones, it was as wide and long as six football fields, the walls were at least 40 feet high and made of grey stones, the same as the seats above our heads; the arena was also sprinkled with four or five pillars that dug deep into the ground and reached even higher up into the sky. They had spread us girls out into a huge circle in the center with our backs facing the platform that Taylor, his father and ten guards stood. "Welcome to the next Challenge." He held his arms out in a grand gesture. "Let's begin."

I stepped forward. "Is this a joke?!"

Dana scoffed, "I'm not fighting no damn lions!" The crowd roared with laughter, even a few of the guards let out a snicker.

"Nobody said anything about lions." Taylor smiled down at us as a gate clanged open on the far side of the arena, a couple guards pulled on a pulley system to drag a thick wood and steel door open. The atmosphere turned to intense anticipation and excitement as the crowd let loose a few final hoots, the sun was falling but kept the air hot and muggy; my leg throbbed almost in tune with the throbbing from my back.

"Kelly . . ." Dana backed away from the door to where I stood, "I don't have a good feeling about this." The gate opened all the way, leaving a blanket of silence to fall on the crowd; the girls began backing away, some were sobbing already. A low growl slipped through the dark tunnel and cut through the air to my ears and the crowd let out an expectant gasp of awe. An impact to the ground shook the arena as a black snout emerged from the darkness; another growl escaped through dagger sized, razor sharp teeth, a wisp of air shot from its nose as it raised its head further out into the light.

"Is that a–" Terra grabbed mine and Dana's arm; we watched in shock as the dragon lifted its head into the sky and dragged the rest of its body out into the sun. It towered into the sky with its scales shinning a dark greenish black under the setting sun, its snout opened slowly to release a low deafening roar that scent the crowd into a frenzy and shivers down my spine.

I looked up to Taylor to see his eyes on me. "This is just a game to you, isn't it?" I whispered below a breath, but I knew he heard me; I looked back to the dragon to see it shifting its body weight to peer in our general direction. "Nobody move a muscle." I whispered to all the girls. Everyone was still for three heartbeats before Jacqueline took off running in the opposite direction, spurring the dragon to let out another terrifying roar and charge at us. It snapped its jaws down over a girls head as she ran a little too close to it while others ran to hide behind whatever they could find; Dana, Terra and I ran our way to a ditch near the back wall, away from the monster.

"So how's that plan coming along?" Terra screeched, looking directly at me.

"What?!" I coughed sand and dirt out of my throat before groaning, "I'm workin' on it."

"Work faster, Kel." Dana whispered, "Oh no, LIZZY!" Across the arena a short red haired girl screamed while tripping in front of the dragon, her screams were cut off with a sickening crunch and a joyful cheer from the crowd. We all turned away before another girl had her screams ended abruptly, "What do we do? Do we have to kill it, because that's impossible!"

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours, when I looked up to the sky I realized it must have at least been two–or three . . . I really had no idea how to read the sun; I peeked over the ditch to see the dragon swaying its head back and forth slowly, something about the way it waited before moving, it was almost like it was– "That's it. Look, at its eyes." They turned around to look at its face then they both nodded in agreement.

"It's blind?" Terra questioned before we all turned back to hide in our ditch. "We can use that to our advantage how?" She scratched her head.

"It's listening for us, it can't see us if we're quiet." The dragon seemed to be slowly following any little sound it could pick up; several times he went after a member in the crowd but stopped short when a girl would make a noise or someone in the crowd would throw something into the arena.

"But the other girls don't know that." Dana looked over the ditch to see the girls hiding behind whatever shelter they could find.

"We need to let them know, Terra you go left and Dana you go right." Terra nodded and began crawling her way toward the left side of the coliseum, where most of the girls were hiding; Dana began tiptoeing to the other side. "Okay, now what?" I mumbled, absentmindedly looking up to Taylor in time to see his head inch toward the cage. "Back in the cage?" A slight nod from Taylor confirmed my question. "That's it?" His head shook ever so slightly; at least I think it did. "Then what?" He shrugged. "Great." I scoffed, looking over to the dragon to see it slithering its way to Terra and a sobbing girl hiding behind a rock. "Okay, okay, time to Luke Skywalker this bitch." I walked toward it and whistled, "Hey Mushu, right here!" It stopped to look in my direction. "Yeah, come on!" I blurted out as it ran toward me with its teeth barred, and a deadly growl ripping through the air. "Oh shit." I turned over my shoulder and ran toward the cage door.

"What the hell is she doing?" Jacqueline spoke beside Dana with a sort of anger to her tone.

"Saving our lives." Dana ran out a little further from the girls and waved her arms, "Hey ugly!" She got its attention seconds before its jaws could take a bite out of me. I cursed under my breath as the dragon raced after Dana, right before Terra stepped out and yelled for it also, they were buying me time. I made it to the cage opening when I turned to see the dragon change direction to Terra, causing its tail to smack into Dana's chest and send her flying through the air and into a pillar.

"Dana!" I screamed about ready to go to her when the dragon came toward me. Okay, get it in the cage –that's easy . . . almost too easy. "Come on, Pete!" I yelled from the mouth of the cage as the dragon hurled itself into the darkness, almost crushing me under its low hanging belly. Dana and Terra ran up to pull the rope system and closed the door, but as they did a low humming sound caught my attention. "Do you hear that?" I whispered in Dana's ear as to not alert the dragon.

"_Hear what?_" She mouthed as they continued to pull the gate down quietly.

"It's like a hum –" A flash of purple stopped my words, I shifted closer to see as deep in the cage as I could, it was an egg . . . a shiny, purple egg. "What's –" I looked up to Taylor, "Aw come on." I swear I saw him wink at me with his smug smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. "Girls, wait." I put a hand on their shoulders, "We need that egg . . ."

Dana looked at me like I was crazy. "What the hell did you just say?"

"There's an egg inside the cage, and it's the whole point of the Challenge . . . to get the egg!"

"I want to punch you right now. Are you really suggesting that we let it back out?!" Dana growled with her eyebrows pulled down on her forehead.

"Dana, I don't like it either but I'm sure we need the egg."

"You're '_sure'_?! Kelly, this thing killed five of the girls! We are NOT letting it back out!" Dana and I glared at each other before I took a deep breath.

"Fine." I moved around her and slipped under the steel gate into the dragon's lair.

"Kelly." I heard Dana hiss out my name before helping Terra hold the door to hover open at the bottom for me. The cage smelled like burnt skin and fecal matter, the walls were thick stone, as was the floor with a light sprinkling of skeletal remains; I looked around the corner and saw the massive dragon with its tail curled up around that purple glowing egg. Shoot. I checked the floor before putting each of my feet down, sliding my palm across the cold stone wall as I made my way toward the terrifying dragon. Its long tail was wrapped protectively around the egg, causing its hum to come off as muffled and strained. What kind of egg hums and shines like a beautiful purple light that was cast under water? I held my breath and hoped my heartbeat wasn't too erratic; I lifted my injured leg up and over the thick scaled tail to gain closer access to the egg. Another hissed version of my name cut through the quiet darkness, causing the dragon to raise its head from the floor. My heart stopped as I held my body frozen and taut waiting to see the dragons' next move; it laid its head back to the stone preceding a gust of air and smoke exiting its nostrils. I counted to 60 before trying for the egg once more, my finger grazed its surface and a tingle shot through my palms, I jerked back for half a second before reaching again. I took hold of it in both my hands then tucked it under my arm like my brother taught me to do with a football, "Fumbles wreck chances for the Championship." I missed my brother . . . I'd think about that later, right now I need to focus on the task at hand – not dying. The egg was surprisingly light for such a huge egg, the hum continued but the further I got from the dragon, the louder the hum grew, obviously it was some sort of security measure because the dragons lips pulled away from its teeth and it shot forward.

"Crap." I ran to the gate, "Open it!" I yelled even though it was already opened enough for me at the floor. I rolled the egg under the door and out of the lair then rolled myself under the gate before Terra and Dana dropped it into place and rushed over to me.

"Are you crazy?!"Dana glared daggers at me. "That was incredibly stupid."

"Oh shut up." I exhaled while dropping my head to the arena floor. The sky was turning a grey shade of blue as the sun settled behind the tree line and clouds dissipated across the realm and cast the arena in shadow.

"They're opening it back up!" A girl squealed over the roaring screams of the severely pissed off dragon that was currently bashing its body into the steel gate. The guards up top were working the pulley system and dragging the gate up, trying to unleash the furious beast.

"Grab the rope!" I scurried over to latch onto one while Dana and Terra grabbed the other.

"They're too strong!" Another couple of girls ran over to help pull the ropes while the remaining girls tried holding the gate in place. In a momentary lapse of strength, I lost hold of my rope and the men lifted the gate a smidge higher, allowing the dragon to slip under the gap and grab hold of one of the girls' leg. She screamed before we wrenched the gate back down, the dragon pulled back into its lair, effectively tearing her leg from her body with a sickening _rip_ and _crack_.

"We can't hold it!" The crowd above us howled with laughter and cheered for the release of the dragon, the screams of the poor girl filled my ears as the rattle of the gate reverberated off the stone walls; our strength was no match for the guards, they were literately lifting us from the ground.

"Kelly!" Dana's fear filled voice rang out over the noise of the moment and I focused on her beautiful grey eyes, they were tough and determined, but I saw the truth . . . she was afraid – we both were. The eggs hum grew louder, the dragon grew angrier, and we fell weaker as the crowd bellowed out for more blood.

No more spilt blood . . . not tonight. "Denise, take my rope." I handed it off to her and took a deep breath while walking over to the wall. Sending a silent prayer to the sky, I perched my foot against the stone wall for balance, my calf muscles constricted with the sudden movement to my hurt leg; the metal arrowhead protruded four inches out of my shin, the shaft extended back another seven, my heart clenched at the pain. Dana looked over and tried calling my name but I didn't respond, she told me to stop because she knew what my plan was; I looked over to see her asking another girl to grab her rope. Now or never . . . another deep breath escaped through my trembling lips as my fingers drifted down to wrap around the shaft of the arrow. My shoulder tightened, my forearm flexed and my gut twisted, my eyes were glued to my hand as I slowly slid the remaining wood arrow through the wound then with a final deep breath and a scream of pain, I ripped the metal tip through my muscles, tendons and skin and out of my leg. Whatever tendons and muscles remaining in my leg burned like fire as blood drenched my leg and flooded the sand and dirt; my scream caused the dragon and the egg to grow louder and the guards to pull harder. Dana ran to me but I shoved the arrow into her hands before she could say a word, "go." She ran to the rope and quickly sliced through the strands, the gate fell to the ground with a **BOOM** that shook the arena and silenced the crowd.

Every girl turned to congratulate and hug each other as I hobbled toward that _damn_ egg; its hum had become painful and I had every intention of breaking it over my knee, but as I lifted it in my bloodied hands, the hum stopped . . . and began again as a beat . . . a heartbeat. Warmth spread through my fingers as they let off a soft purple glow and a slight shock went through my body as I watched that same purple color dissolve into my veins and disappear into my arms. A gasp left my lips, suddenly I felt sick and tired then I collapsed.

I was woken by Dana shaking my shoulder vigorously; tears streamed down her face, "Don't die. I'll hate you forever if you do." her eyes brightened as I opened mine. "Oh thank Jesus."

"What happened?"

"You passed out four days ago, you know . . . after the dragon thing." Terra remarked with a slight shrug coming into my sight. "Welcome back babe."

"Thanks, I like what you've done with the place." I exhaled sharply trying to pull myself to a sitting position.

"Hey Fido, just chill," Dana held her hand against my shoulder.

"No really, guys I'm fine." I stood anyway when the guard sent a young maid to fetch Taylor.

"You lost a lot of blood, Kelly." Terra grimaced every time I took a shaky step.

"Guys, really – it hurts like a bitch, but I'm not a pussy." I tried giving them a hearty chuckle instead it came off weak and pained.

"Right." They said together with the same tone of speculation in their voice before Taylor pulled the door open.

"Now that Aurora is awake, I can explain your next Challenge."

"Do you really think any of us would survive through another Challenge so soon?" Terra scoffed, gesturing around her tall frame to the hurting girls.

"That's not my problem . . . but I can guarantee you, almost none of you will die." His eyes sparkled with a slight twinge of amusement as he looked over his shoulder at another maid. "Beatrice, take these women to the shower room," He looked back at Terra, "they stink." Her eyes turned into slits as she launched herself at Taylor.

"No!" I caught her arm and pulled her back with as much strength I could muster. "Terra stop."

"You're a little angry with me, huh?" He moved just inches from her face.

"Screw you." He gave her a dark look before a low growl crept up from his throat. She lowered her gave and took a step back.

"Beatrice, get them ready." His voice still held an animalistic tone as he walked from the room.

"Okay lovely ladies! Follow me please." Beatrice clapped her hands together merrily and led us from the cell. We walked through a corridor until a grey door came into view; the guard behind us shouldered me away as he made his way up to unlock it.

"Should we run?" Dana whispered.

I shrugged, "No point." She stared at me for a moment before we were ushered inside a large bathroom, it was old and dull, filled with bathtubs, toilets, sinks, showers and _running_ water; the showers were divided by waist high, thick walls, the floor was a dull grey while the walls looked freshly cleaned and glistened.

"Is this a dream?"Jacqueline squealed with delight. After two and a half months, a shower was the happiest thought any of us could even imagine, yet every girl stood in the doorway unsure about what to do.

"Ladies, pick your preference quickly. Aren't you ready to be clean?" Beatrice waved five more maids in with towels, shampoos and conditioners, soaps and shavers. "Here's how this is going to work, you will bathe, shave, or whatever – then you will walk down this hall and turn into the parlor room where you'll take a seat in front of any mirror. Got it?" Her shiny brown eyes smiled at us before setting us lose. I took the shower furthest from the door, leaving Dana and Terra to take the next two. Then I peeled my dirty, bloodied clothes off and threw them in a pile in the corner along with Dana and Terra's.

"A snake is gonna come out of the drain, isn't it?" Dana eyed the drain beneath her feet skeptically before standing on top of it, "Well not this one it's not."

"Or some sort of acid out of the shower head in place of water." Terra joked, but we weren't really joking. I stretched my fingers out to lightly grasp the handle, taking a tentative glance around the room I saw all eyes on me, waiting for me to test it out before they started their own water.

"Gee thanks guys." I grumbled, turning my knob to the left, allowing a steady stream of beautifully warm water to hit my face. A startled gasp left my lips and I felt the room tense up. I felt a laugh bubble up my throat and I swiped the water over my neck. The sound of showers clicked on, baths began running and heavy sighs of contentment filled the room as steam swallowed our stresses. The water ran down my face and chest as I looked to my wounded leg, somehow it looked 10 times better than I imagined it would have, the pain was almost ignorable, hell . . . with this hot water streaming over the course of my body everything was ignorable – the girls mindless chatter, the plumbing's rattle and the guards relentless staring. I smoothed the bar of soap over my skin while covering my breasts from the guards' unrelenting gaze, scrubbing my stomach and shoulders clean I heard a guard speak and Dana growl. Peeking over my shoulder, I locked eyes with Taylor. His hands were stuffed into his black slacks; his button up shirt was unkempt yet crisp and tight around his sculpted arms and his chiseled chest. The guard continued to talk to him but he kept his eyes on me, his gaze sweeping as low as the dividers showed then back up to my face, a small smile played at the corner of his mouth. My mind blanked on everything else before Terra smacked my shoulder.

"What–uh yeah?" I tore my attention from Taylor; Terra shifted her weight so I could see past her to Dana.

"Do you want conditioner?"

"Uh–yes. And a –"

"Shaver? Yeah, I know." She winked at me, "We don't need people mistaking you for a Werewolf too." Terra chuckled.

"If anyone could pass as a Werewolf it'd be you with your giant ass feet, Sasquatch." I mocked, taking the things from Terra as she let out a loud cackle.

"Whatever." Dana stuck her tongue out at me playfully, "You done?" Terra nodded.

"I'll catch up."

Taylor walked into the parlor room and strode over to Beatrice while she worked on a young girls hair. "How is everything?"

"Good, except we're still missing one." She curled another section of hair before looking up into Taylor's blue eyes as the darkened a shade. He took a small look around the room then stormed off to check the showers; he was rounding the corner when I smacked into his hard body.

"Ow." I looked up and glared at him, surprise masked his face at the sight of me being where I was supposed to be.

"I think you're getting smarter, Kelly." His eyes snaked down to the white towel I clutched to my body. My glower didn't lessen as his fingers reached up and touched the towels hem; my hand clenched the soft fabric and my heart sped up. He stood like that for a moment, his fingers drifting across the top of my towel, "Best hurry and get in there." It took me a second to understand then I sidestepped around him and hurried to the parlor room. What is wrong with me?!

"There you are dear! Come along now, I'll do your makeup." Beatrice led me over to a chair.

"What?" She got to work without saying anything, excluding the occasional scolding me for moving or swatting my hands away from my face. "So what? You guys gussy us up before eating us?" I mumbled over the lip gloss pen she glided over my lips.

She chuckled, "Oh Heavens no. We wouldn't bother with the hair and makeup . . . no one eats that part. Not even the Orcs." She winked at me through the mirror causing me to let out a sincere laugh.

"So are you Taylor's maid?" I asked as she finished streaking eye liner across my eyelids.

"No, I'm the Queen's handmaiden."

"Wow . . . is she nice?"

"The Queen? She's the kindest person I know." She laced my eyelashes with mascara until they were full and gorgeous then moved behind me with a brush.

"And the King?"

She eyed me in the mirror with a hint of warning, "The King is a wise, generous King, the best thing to happen to our Kingdom and our lives." I decided against asking if she was forced to say that and settled for an easier one.

"How long have you worked in the castle?"

"Twelve years."

My mouth gaped at her, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-six." She placed the brush on the counter and snatched up the curling iron. "My mother and I came here on the eve of my fourteenth birthday."

"You choose to be here?" Obviously the shock on my face was amusing because she smiled.

"My father is a Werewolf; he brought us here to live with him."

"As a human?" Skepticism leaked from my words.

"Yes. Every year on my birthday he asks if I was him to change me, I told him once I hit thirty I'd let him." My eyes widened. "My mother asked to be changed a year after we moved here."

"Why would you ever want to be a–"

"Monster?" Her usually soft voice held a touch of anger when she stopped to stare at me.

"I was going to say 'Werewolf'." I rebuked with an air of irritation. Her eyes softened slightly before continuing.

"I don't expect you to understand . . . it's an honor to us."

"You don't think I understand? Wanting to be with your family . . . standing beside them . . . sharing each other's lives, pains, fears and joys?" My heart clenched hard as our eyes connected again. "It's an honor to us too." My gaze unyieldingly bore into hers until she looked away and busied herself on my hair.

Beatrice had begun twisting my fresh curls on the top of my head like the other girls when Taylor appeared by my chair, he reached down on the counter and grasped the decorative glass pin and slid it into his pocket. "She doesn't get a pin." He told Beatrice when she fixed him with a puzzled look then met my gaze in the mirror.

"'I think you're getting smarter', sir." I couldn't help the small smile that kissed my lips at the sight of a smirk coming out on his face. He held my gaze a beat longer before turning to tell the maids that it was time to get us dressed.

"Okay, stand up girls!" Beatrice announced as the guards left the room, closing the door behind them. I was surprised they left us alone with only a bunch of girls, "Drop your towel." She came toward me with two items of navy blue fabric. "Please?"

"Where's that supposed to go?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

She giggled, "I know right? But remember that 'honor' I was talking about?" I nodded. "This is also one." I regarded her kind eyes with a slight agitation before dropping my towel. She smiled at my face then began wrapping the skimpy fabric around my waist for the skirt, her eyes stopped briefly on my shoulder burn when tying my top, but she continued on. The gown itself was of no amiable construct; I felt as though I was wearing a mere extension of the bath towel I just dropped, but then even that was a lie, a bath towel offered more modesty. The thin silk stretched from one side of my hip to loop behind around to the other side and was held in place by a thick golden belt encrusted with beautiful gems and several unreadable runes. Or at least I couldn't read them. The bodice stretched around my chest and tied in a thick bind in the middle of my back, if I wasn't sure before, I most assuredly was now, these people had NO shame. The base of the top held small gems and jewels on strings of gold that dangled mere inches above my belly button, if I thought this was the furthest my mortification was to be stretched I was proven wrong when Beatrice turned back around to the tray of items that lurked behind me. I stared at her through the reflection of the mirror before swiveling around to peer at what appeared to be a misshapen metal bowl grasped in her hands; she asked me to have a seat, I thought about it before I obliged. My eyes continued to examine the strange leather straps attached to the sides when she turned it over and fastened it on my shoulder. The weight was surprising and unexpected, if not for her sure and knowledgeable hands I would have toppled out of my seat. And if I had hoped that was it I was wrong again, Beatrice was stretching a stiff cord of steel as if it was the easiest thing to do and began winding it perfectly around and down my bicep. She took a step back to admire her hard work, "Perfect." Her voice seeped with adoration as I turned to take a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

"Kill me." I mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. What's this thing and why don't all the other girls have one?" I knocked n the metal bowl with my left hand.

"It's a piece of the Werewolf battle armor, it's a shoulder guard."

"Okay. I could've guessed that . . . why am I wearing it?" I rolled my eyes and touched the metal belt that held the silky fabric nice and secure around my hips.

"Tradition. Just accept it and get over it." She smiled when I fixed her with a scowl.

"I don't like it."

"I don't care." She laughed and walked over to another girl to get her ready. I let out a groan of exasperation and looked around the room to see Dana and Terra wearing the same outfit in scarlet and light lavender, as I looked around again I saw that every girl had a different color but no one else had a shoulder guard like Dana, Terra and I.

"What the hell is happening?" Dana grabbed m arm.

"I don't know how would this be a Challenge?" I breathed as a maid walked up with blue liquid in cups.

"What's this?"

She smiled, "Mouthwash."

"If everyone is ready, please follow me." Beatrice called out as she led us down a different corridor than the one we came down.

"Beatrice," I ran up next to her, my skirt billowing out behind me. "What is happening?"

"Another Challenge is waiting." She stopped us by a door then turned to stare into my eyes; I saw a shred of pity before she looked away and opened the door. "Good luck." She whispered to me as my heart fell into my stomach.

* * *

**I wanna say a big and wonderful THANK YOU to my lovely big sister, if it wasn't for her constant nagging and very inspirational help, this chapter wouldn't have come together the way it did. And thank sis for helping with my description scenes3 I can't wait for you to read the next chapter(; You all should be VERYYY exciting;) wink wink**


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